Christmas Eve
by MacsLady
Summary: It's Christmas Eve, 2012, and Mac, Christine and Ella are at a party at Hawkes' place. Mac notices Ella has snuck out of the party, and goes looking for her to find out what's up. This is a bit of pure Christmas fluff. I promised some Mac/Ella one-shots on finishing 'Second Chances', and here's the first one.


**Christmas Eve.**

_Disclaimer: All characters from the show belong to the writers. Uglydolls, the Muppets, and Spongebob characters belong to their respective creators. Ella is mine, however._

_Notes: So, this fic is set on Christmas Eve 2012, so takes place between chapter 7 of 'Second Chances' and the epilogue '8 months later'. For those who haven't read that fic, Ella is the daughter of Mac's friend, Sam Brody, who was killed in an accident. Mac was named as her legal guardian and took Ella in and eventually adopted her. She's ten years old at the time of this fic._

_Okay, so to set the scene, it's a snowy Christmas Eve in New York, and Mac, Ella, and Christine have been invited to a party at Hawkes' place. Mac notices Ella's not in the apartment, and goes looking for her._

After leaving Hawkes's apartment and checking the hall and lobby, Mac found Ella outside, leaning against the wall of the apartment block. Her head was down and he could see her shoulders were shaking slightly. He knew that it was not from the cold, despite the fact that it was freezing out here. She was scuffing at the snow-covered ground with her foot.

'Ella?' he said softy, leaning next to her.

'It's so hot in there,' she huffed out, 'and I was bored. Danny and Hawkes are, like, totally, boring. All Hawkes talks about is his stupid girlfriend, and all Danny talks about is how he hates Christmas shopping. Why did you just abandon me?'

'I'm sorry, Ella, I thought you were having fun with Ellie and Lucy,'

'I *was* but then Ellie went to her party and Lucy had to go to bed, and you were talking to Don and Jo.'

'Ella, you know you could have just come over to me?'

'But Sheldon said I shouldn't bother you. That you needed a break and not to have me hanging off you every second.'

Mac heard the hurt and anger in Ella's voice, and felt a flash of rage at Hawkes. He knew Hawkes had probably meant well, but unfortunately, he'd likely come off to Ella as bossy and snooty and mean.

'I heard him talking to his stupid girlfriend too, when they didn't know I was there,' Ella continued, 'He said he wondered what the hell you thought you were doing taking on a kid like me and how I'd been taking up all your time the last few months and you hadn't been as focused on your work and the lab. And Camille said that was probably because I was a screwed up kid who needed lots of handling, and you'd have been better off giving me up.'

Mac's rage flared bright and hot. He was tempted to march back into the party and punch Hawkes in the mouth for what he'd said. It didn't matter that he hadn't intended for Ella to overhear, his words were thoughtless and selfish and petty. He and Hawkes had had their professional disagreements, but this was personal, and it concerned Ella. Mac had never much liked Camille, and liked her even less right now.

Mac moved so he was in front of Ella and bent down. He slipped his fingers under her chin and tipped her face so her eyes, filled with angry, unshed tears, met his.

'What they said is a load of bullcrap, Ella. You are the best thing to happen in my life, you and Christine, and if I had to, I would quit my job tomorrow rather than give you up. And I don't care if Hawkes doesn't approve.'

'So I haven't, like, been totally needy and awful and wrecked your life?'

'No,' Mac said, 'And if _anyone_ ever says that, I will personally rip their head off and put it on a pike outside the lab.'

Ella's lips twitched slightly into an almost-smile.

'Really?'

'Really.'

'Okay. And if anyone says mean things about _you_ I'll...kidnap them and lock them in a room with Justin Bieber songs piped in and when they beg for mercy, I'll say 'no, never!''

'Wow, that *is* harsh,' Mac said, both amused by Ella's idea of punishment for those who crossed her, and touched by the fierce determination and protectiveness in her tone. She might not actually carry out her punishment, but he realized that anyone who was 'mean about him' as Ella put it would face her considerable wrath, just as Hawkes would face Mac's own once they both returned to work.

'Thank you, Ella,' he said.

'Well, me and you have got to look out for each other,' she said.

'Do you want to go back inside now? It's pretty cold out here,' Mac said.

Ella's smile vanished and she dropped her head, shaking it from side to side.

Mac could feel her reluctance coming off her in waves. Taking in the slump of her shoulders, he realized that she was upset about more than just what she'd overheard Hawkes say. And Mac had a very good idea of what exactly that was, and it made his heart break for her.

'Tell you what,' he said, softly, 'Screw the party. Let's go over to that coffee place and get something hot to drink and we can just sit for a while in the warm and maybe talk, if you want.'

'Just us? No Christine or Jo or Don?'

'Just us,' Mac said.

Ella nodded, with a weariness that suggested whatever it was that was weighing her down, she was tired of bearing it alone.

Ten minutes later, Mac made his way from the counter at the coffee store to a little table by the window that Ella had staked out for them while he waited in line.

'One hot chocolate, with whipped cream and no marshmallows, as requested,' he said, 'and one double chocolate chip brownie, which is a little surprise for you.'

Ella smiled.

'Thanks, Mac, you want half?' she said.

'Sure,' he said sitting opposite her with his mug of coffee. Ella split the brownie and passed him half. They sat in silence for a few moments, sipping their drinks and gazing out at the snowy streets and people hurrying by on last-minute Christmas Eve errands.

'What was it like for you, the first Christmas after Claire died?' Ella asked, gazing down into her hot chocolate.

Mac paused for a moment.

'To be honest, I don't even really remember it. I buried myself in work and just tried to ignore the whole thing. I spent the day at the office because being at my apartment just hurt too much. Claire loved Christmas, she was like a kid when it came around. She always insisted we buy the biggest tree we could find, and covered the apartment with decorations and stuff. On Christmas morning she'd open all her presents and chuck the paper all over the floor, the place looked like a bomb had hit it.'

Ella smiled, but sadly.

'I just wish he was here,' Ella said, softly.

Mac nodded, knowing she meant her dad.

'I know you do. I'd do anything if I could change things to make it so that he was, Ella. But I can't. I know I'm not enough for you.'

Ella's head jerked up.

'What? No! You _are_ enough! I mean, you're not _him_ but if it wasn't for you I'd be stuck with Edward the Jackass and his stupid wife. God, that would be like the worst Christmas *ever*. You've been so great to me. It's like, apart from Stacie, you're the only person who really *gets* me and just accepts me for _me_ and doesn't get all weird when I want to talk about my dad. And even Stacie doesn't fully get what it's like to be like me, but _you_ do. And you don't try to lie and say things will get better, which weirdly kinds of makes stuff easier to deal with, y'know? Like, god, Mac, loads of kids would be _lucky_ to have you for a parent. You can be kind of annoying and strict sometimes, and you're way too stubborn, but if I can't have my dad then I'm glad I have you.'

Mac stared at Ella for a moment, a little taken aback by the fierceness and absolute certainty in her tone. He was still struggling with feelings of not being 'enough' for Ella, especially so in these last few weeks in the run up to Christmas, when he knew her father's absence had to be even more glaring and painful than normal.

'Ella...thank you,' he said.

She shrugged.

'You're pretty awesome, Mac. I'm glad you're around.'

Mac nodded.

'It will get easier,' he said, gently, 'Not better, and it won't ever stop hurting. You're always going to miss your dad, Ella, especially at times like this, but you learn to...live with it. To keep moving forward. I like to think it's what they'd want us to do.'

Ella nodded.

'I really do miss him,' she said. 'So _much_, you know?'

Mac stood and moved around to her side of the table. He sat next to her and she snuggled up against him, burying her face into his shoulder and hugging him tight. Mac wrapped his arm around her and stroked her hair.

'I know,' he said, gently. They sat in silence, Mac not offering any other attempts at comfort but just allowing Ella to let down her guard for a short while. He felt tears dampen his shirt, and wordlessly passed her some napkins from the table, turning his body a little so she'd feel shielded from the potential gaze of any other customers. He knew she wouldn't want the curious, pitying glances of anyone seeing a kid crying at Christmas.

Eventually, Ella pulled back a little, sniffling slightly and dabbing at her eyes.

'Can we go home now?' she asked, quietly.

'Of course,' he said.

Given that it was Christmas Eve and still snowing quite heavily, they opted to take the subway to the stop closest to their apartment and then walk the few blocks between the stop and home. As they walked, trudging through the crisp snow, Ella slipped her gloved hand into Mac's and held on tight. Mac smiled and closed his fingers around hers.

As they reached a little park just around the corner from the apartment, Ella stopped.

'I saw some kids making snow angels here earlier,' she said, 'I used to do that with my dad, and my mom when she was still around. You ever do it?'

Mac smiled.

'As a kid, I generally spent more time having snowball fights, sledding, and having skidding contests on the icy bits with my friends, but Claire and I did it most years when it snowed.'

His smile widened at the memory of Claire grinning up at him from her position in a mound of snow, of her insisting he make one too, pulling him down to the ground, and later, laughing as she brushed snow out of hair and off his back.

Ella looked up at him.

'Can...can _we...' _she asked, tentatively.

Mac grinned.

'Why not?' he said, 'Come on,'

He led her into the park and over to a grassy area. They could see the remains of snow angels made by others earlier in the night gradually being covered by freshly falling flakes.

Finding a clear patch, Ella threw herself down backwards into the snow with a giggle and a kind of reckless abandon that made Mac smile as he, much more cautiously, lowered himself down.

'Ready?' Ella asked, glancing over to him, grinning widely.

'Ready,' he said, feeling a kind of lightness and freedom he hadn't felt in years. It had been a long time since snow had been anything but a hindrance to getting to work and to processing outdoor crime scenes. He'd forgotten that snow could quite simply be _fun_.

Together, he and Ella moved their arms and legs to make the shape of an angel. Ella hopped up and waited impatiently while Mac got up, more slowly. The girl's energy never ceased to amaze him.

'Cool,' she said,

'Yes,' Mac said, looking down at the two shapes in the snow, Ella's small one by his larger one.

'Thanks, Mac. That was fun.' she said.

'You're welcome,' he said, 'Thanks for reminding me that snow can be fun,'

Ella grinned as she took his hand again as they left the park.

'Well, sometimes you need reminding that you _can_ have fun. You can get way too serious sometimes and way too worried about what other people think. You don't have to be all boss-like all the time, y'know. Christine and I both think so.'

'Oh, you do, do you?'

'Yep. That's why you need us.'

Mac shook his head and chuckled.

'I guess you're right,' he said, 'You guys _do_ remind me that work isn't everything.'

In fact, Mac reflected, work, while still important to him, had taken a distinct back seat to Ella and Christine, and for the first time, during this year's run up to Christmas, he'd found his thoughts and spare time more dedicated to preparing for Christmas with them than worrying about caseloads or crime stats. This had been the first time in years that he'd had people beyond his colleagues to buy gifts for. He'd particularly enjoyed choosing and buying gifts for Ella, and going with her and Christine to pick out a proper tree for his apartment, and later watching Ella feeling her presents to try and guess what they might be. After Claire died, he'd pretty much resigned himself to the fact that he'd never have a family of his own, and that Christmas would just be another day of the year. He'd never expected that he would be spending Christmas Eve with a woman and a child he loved, and who loved him in return.

Once back at the apartment, Ella got changed into her pajamas while Mac changed into a faded Marines t-shirt and pajama pants decorated with Santas that Ella and Christine had picked up while Christmas shopping and had given him as an early Christmas present, insisting that he wear them. Mac hoped Don would never, ever find out about them, he'd never hear the end of it.

He came out of his and Christine's room to find Ella curled up on the couch with her Babo Uglydoll, watching an old Spongebob Christmas special, in which Squidward was dressed up as Santa. Seeing the Uglydoll, Mac had an idea. He sat next to Ella and watched the remainder of the cartoon with her, unable to hold back the occasional chuckle at the show, which he'd become quite a fan of (something else he'd never admit to Don).

When it finished, Mac said,

'Hey, Ella, after what we talked about earlier tonight, I want to give you one of your presents a little early.'

Ella's eyes lit up with excitement.

'Really?'

'Really,' Mac said. He got up and went over to the tree. Picking up a present, he handed it to Ella, who eagerly ripped off the paper.

'Oh _Mac..._' she said when she opened it.

'Is it...do you like it?' Mac asked, worried he'd made a mistake.

'Are you kidding? It's like the most perfect gift ever!' Ella said, as she held the gift in her hands. It was an Icebat Uglydoll. Icebat's wings had been folded inward so they crossed over his chest and held a framed photograph to it. The photo showed Ella, aged 8, standing with her father in front of the big tree at Rockefeller Centre, both with huge grins on their faces. Ella wore reindeer antlers and Sam wore a Santa hat.

'Mac...I thought I got rid of most of the photos,' Ella said.

When, a couple of months ago, it had come to clearing out her old home, Ella had insisted on getting rid of most of her father's belongings and most of the photos of him, keeping only a few to remember him by. Mac had understood. He knew how painful such reminders of a loved one could be. But he knew too how much it mattered to remember the time you'd had with them, and had saved several photos and other things in case Ella wanted them when she was older, when the pain of her father's absence wasn't quite so raw. Over the last couple of weeks, he'd picked up on Ella's obvious conflicted feelings over the holiday season and the pain she felt over the approach of the first Christmas without her dad. She hadn't said anything to him, but he'd picked up on it nonetheless, and her outpouring of emotion tonight really hadn't come as a surprise to him. After finding the Icebat Uglydoll, which he knew she wanted, adding the photo, in a frame he'd bought specially, had seemed like something that might just help her deal with what she was going through, remind her of the good times she'd had with her dad, and make her understand that remembering him didn't have to be centered around the fact that he was gone.

Ella hugged him tight.

'Thank you,' she said, 'I love it.'

'I'm glad,' he said.

'Oooh, can I give _you_ one of your presents now?' she asked.

'Sure,' Mac said,

Ella carefully put the photo of her and her dad on the coffee table and laid Icebat next to it.

She jumped off the couch and grabbed a present from under the tree, eagerly passing it to Mac.

He read the tag - 'To our Mac, lots of love, Christine and Ella. PS this present was Ella's idea.'

He opened it, and his heart stopped in his chest for a moment as he felt a swell of emotion rise in him, warming his entire body. Tears pricked the back of his eyes.

It was a photograph, in a light wood frame. The photo was from a few weeks ago when Mac and Christine had taken Ella to the skating rink in Central Park, and showed the three of them standing in front of the rink, wrapped up in their winter coats and hats. Mac was in the middle, one arm around Ella, the other around Christine, and all three were grinning. Mac remembered the day, and the photo, they'd asked a passing woman to take it for them, and after doing so, she'd handed the camera back to Mac and complimented him on his 'beautiful family.' He'd actually forgotten all about the picture what with the subsequent rush of cases and paperwork and Christmas preparations.

'I thought it would be nice for you to have on your desk at work,' Ella said, 'So when you get sad or stressed over cases or paperwork or whatever, you can look at it and think about us, and maybe not be so down. Plus then everyone who comes in your office can see your family. D'you like it? You don't think it's dumb or sappy, do you?'

Mac pulled her to him in a hug.

'I love it,' he said, 'It's going right on my desk as soon as I go back to work.'

Ella hugged him back, then pulled away.

'So, can we watch _Muppets Christmas Carol_ now?' she asked.

'Sure,' Mac said, 'Go get the DVD.'

While Ella was in her room, the door opened and Christine came in. Spotting the wrapping paper on the floor, she scowled.

'Mac Llewellyn Taylor, not only did you sneak out of that party and abandon me to having to watch Hawkes and Camille...canoodling, and listen to Lindsay go on and on about how Danny did nothing to help get ready for Christmas, but you also opened gifts early and without me?'

She sat next to him on the couch, punching him in the arm.

Mac smiled.

'It was what Ella needed. But I am sorry for leaving you at the party.'

'So you should be. I was about ready to go on the rampage. And I'm starving - Camille can't cook, you know. The food was _awful_.'

'It wasn't great,' Mac admitted, 'I guess you'll have to show everyone how cooking's really done when they come here for New Year's. And you have to feel a little sorry for Camille, no? She can hardly compete against the best cook in the world, now, can she?'

'You're a sweet man, Mac Taylor,' Christine said, kissing him lightly, 'I _suppose_ I'll forgive you. How's Ella doing?'

'Better, I think. She just got overwhelmed by...everything. You know how it is,'

Christine nodded, thinking of the first Christmas after her brother had been killed.

'I do. She's lucky to have you, Mac. Of all people, you really do get what she's going through.'

Mac nodded.

'So, you liked our gift?' Christine said, nodding at the photo she and Ella had given him.

'I love it,' he said.

He was leaning in to kiss her when Ella yelled,

'Mac, I can't *find* the Muppets dvd!'

'Well, where did you put it last?' he called back.

'I don't know! If I _knew_ then I could find it! Can you, like, come in here and use your detective crime-sceney skills to find it?'

Mac chuckled.

'Coming,' he called back, before leaning in and giving Christine a soft kiss which promised more later. Her cheeks flushed, and she grinned at him, clearly picking up the intention. 'Merry Christmas, Mac,' she said.

'Merry Christmas,' he said.

They exchanged a warm smile, which held it's own promise of more to come, and headed for Ella's room to track down the rogue DVD, which given Ella's general messiness, Mac had to hope would be resolved before _next_ Christmas.

The End.


End file.
